SCA: the only firm to achieve WWF's green mark

SCA Tissue Europe tops WWF environmental chart
November 29th 2006

SCA Tissue Europe has emerged the clear frontrunner in an independent environmental assessment of Europe’s top tissue companies.

WWF has just released its annual environmental scores, taking into account criteria such as levels of recycled content, wood sourcing and pollution control.

SCA Tissue Europe, which manufacturers tissue products for the washroom, industrial, catering and healthcare sectors, was the only company to receive a “green mark” in WWF’s overall assessment for 2006. SCA achieved a score of 69 per cent, beating its nearest rival by a massive 13 per cent.

“We’re delighted with our environmental attainment, but not surprised,” said SCA Tissue Europe’s UK commercial director Paul Church. “We at SCA pride ourselves on our ‘green’ approach and we assess the environmental impact of our practices throughout the life cycle of our products.”

Scores were given to the five tissue manufacturers that make up 75 per cent of the European market - SCA Tissue Europe, Georgia-Pacific, Kimberly-Clark, Metsa Tissue and Procter & Gamble. The companies were judged on six separate aspects of their environmental management. SCA came top in four of the criteria, and attained joint first place in a fifth.

The company’s highest score was 89 per cent for responsible wood sourcing. WWF found SCA to be the only tissue firm that ensured all its wood fibres came from properly-managed forests.

SCA’s entire 2.6 million hectares of forest land in northern Sweden have been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. SCA is actually one of the world’s biggest suppliers of FSC certified products. SCA also invests heavily in projects aimed at minimising energy consumption while taking steps to minimise the amount of waste water during the manufacturing process.

WWF’s green mark indicates that a company is “on the right track” in environmental management. Yellow means “encouraging signs, but still major issues to address” while red indicates that substantial improvements are required. All the other major tissue companies gained a yellow mark with the exception of Georgia-Pacific, which received a red mark.

SCA Tissue Europe also topped the WWF chart in 2005 when the WWF assessments began. “We are confident that SCA will continue its 100 per cent success rate as the tissue industry’s leading light in environmental issues,” said Paul.

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